Q 01/05

Times Square, home of the New Year's Eve ball drop since 1907, went by what name until 1904?

A) Herald Square

B) Longacre Square

C) Madison Square

D) Union Square

Answer · why

B) Longacre Square

Longacre Square was renamed in 1904 when The New York Times moved into a new tower there, and the paper threw the square's first New Year's Eve party ...

Q 02/05

Which crystal maker's panels have covered the Times Square ball since the millennium drop of 1999-2000?

A) Swarovski

B) Baccarat

C) Waterford

D) Lalique

Answer · why

C) Waterford

Waterford made the millennium ball's crystal in Ireland; the 11,875-pound version that arrived in 2008 stayed on show on the roof all year.

Q 03/05

With the Times Square ball dark for the wartime dimout of 1942 and 1943, how did crowds mark midnight?

A) A 21-gun salute

B) A minute of silence

C) An air-raid siren

D) A radio countdown

Answer · why

B) A minute of silence

A minute of silence, then chimes rung from sound trucks parked at the foot of the tower, greeted both wartime years; the crowds turned up anyway.

Q 04/05

More than a ton of what is released over the Times Square crowd at midnight on New Year's Eve?

A) Balloons

B) Confetti

C) Streamers

D) Rose petals

Answer · why

B) Confetti

Confetti is thrown by hand by a team of volunteers lining the rooftops around the square, led by a man the organisers call their confetti master.

Q 05/05

Which TV host created 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' in 1972 and fronted it until his death in 2012?

A) Ryan Seacrest

B) Regis Philbin

C) Carson Daly

D) Dick Clark

Answer · why

D) Dick Clark

Dick Clark created the special in 1972; after a 2004 stroke he handed main hosting to Ryan Seacrest but kept the midnight countdown himself until his ...